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James H. Russell 



DISCOURSK 



COMMEMOIlATI\^ OF 



DELIVERED IN THE 



^Memorial GJmrch, Detroit, Midi., on January 28th, 1883, 



D. BETHUNE DUFFIELD. 



t [A Memorial Window in this Church bears the name of George Dufl&eld, with his motto : 
' Deo, Reipublicse, et amicis, esto semper fidelis."] 



DETROIT; 

JOHN F. EBY & CO., BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 
1883. 



3/ f^zt- 



Optima autem hsereditas a patribus traditur liberis, omnique patrimonio 
praestautior, gloria virtutis, rerumque gestarum.— Cicero de OfQc. 1. 33. 

Translated.— But the best inheritance transmitted b}^ fathers to their children, 
is the glory of their virtue and noble deeds. 

Univ. of Midi. 
MOV 2 3 1983 



CORRKSFONDENCE. 



Detroit, February 2, 1883. 

D. BETHUNE DUFFIELD, Esq.: 

Dear Sir — We, the undersigned, request that the interesting 
address commemorative of your revered father. Rev. George Duffield, 
D. D., delivered by you at the Memorial Presbyterian Church on the 
28th ult., may be published, and so enable us to secure in a permanent 
form, this pleasing record of his life and services as a citizen, and preacher 
of the Gospel. 

Respectfully yours, 

GEORGE D. BAKER. 
ZACHARY EDDY. 
D. M. COOPER. 
GEORGE V. N. LOTHROP 
J. S. FARRAND. 
JAMES BURNS. 
WM. K. MUIR.- 

JAMES McMillan. 

JOHN S. NEWBERRY. 
GEORGE PECK. 
JOHN COLLINS. 
JOSEPH LATHROP. 
CHAS. I. WALKER. 
JAMES D. WEIR. 
ALEX. H. DEY. 
HOVEY K. CLARK. 
THOMAS PITTS, and others. 



WILLIAM T. SPROLE. 
JAMES F. DICKIE. 
P. R. HURD. 
ROBERT P. TOMS. 
ALANSON SHELEY. 
JOHN OWEN. 
EMORY WENDELL. 

HUGH McMillan. 

GEO. S. FROST. 
GEO. B. PEASE. 
ROBT. W. KING. 
FRANCIS LAMBIE. 
SAMUEL ZUG. 
CHAS. C. TROWBRIDGE. 
JOHN WINDER. 
PHILO PARSONS. 



Friday, February 16, 1883. 

Hon. D. BETHUNE DUFFIELD: 

I thank your friends heartily for permission to add my name to 
those upon the request, for the printing of your memorial address in 
memory of your honored father. I was one of his loving admirers 
during his long and useful life in Detroit, served with him as Regent of 
the University, and was present when he fell, with armor on. The 
record of such a life ought by all means to be perpetuated, as well in 
justice to the dead, whose good deeds are forgotten by the rushing 
crowd, as for the hopeful example to honest young men who desire to 
serve their generation. 

Lovingly yours, 

C. C. TROWBRIDGE. 



Messrs. GEO. D. BAKER, JOHN OWEN, WM. SPROLE, ROBT. P. TOMS, GEO. 
V. N. LOTHROP, JAMES BURNS, and others: 

Gentlemen — In response to your courteous request that the address 
recently delivered in the Memorial Presbyterian Church, commemorative 
of the late George Duffield, D. D., may be published, I beg leave to say, 
with due acknowledgment for your kind expressions in reference thereto, 
that I have to-day concluded so to do, and have placed the manuscript 
in the hands of the printer. 

Very truly, your obedient servant, 

D. BETHUNE DUFFIELD. 

Detroit, February 7, 1883. 



®iitinuetix0ratixie ^isconxsz. 



Alpine travellers, though often charmed by the 
passing beanty of a summer's sunset, are sometimes 
(though rarely), favored with a vision of what is 
called the Alpengluelien^-^ — before which all 
kindred scenes fade and disappear. A clear, but 
vaporous atmosphere, in which the snow-capped 
peaks may uplift themselves, stripped of the garni- 
ture of cloud and mist, is essential to this phenome- 
non. The declining day then takes to itself such a 
deep crimson hue, that the snowy helmets of the 
mountain giants stand out like masses of glowing 
coals. From peak to peak the glory of it flashes 
and is reflected, far as the eye can follow the bil- 
lowy range ; till like a flood of supernatural light 
it bathes the craggy slopes, and tips with a soft 
splendor the deejDer shadows of the darkening valley. 
But soon, the heavenly illumination begins gradually 
to rise and recede from the lower levels, — changing 



8 



COMMEMOEATIVE DISCOUESE. 



as it ascends, from the deep red into a more delicate 
shade of brilliant blue, and spreading the while, like 
a soft veil over the whole mountain, but still gently- 
ascending, and yet ascending, nntil after a brief lin- 
gering upon the summit, it suddenly vanishes from 
sight, — and the rugged mountains again stand in 
their ordinary coloring, and the vision of beauty is 
no more ! 

It seems, — while this sunset hour throws its depart- 
ing beams through yonder memorial window, — as 
though, in this brief service, we somehow stood in 
the lingering glow of that ''light" which 

*'The good man leaves behind him. 
Along the paths of men ; " 

and in the tender radiance of it, before it shall have 
lifted itself wholly from the mountain peaks of 
memory, we may appropriately recall some of the 
busy and brighter scenes, in the life of him wTiom we 
are here so kindly invited to remember. 

In this brief sketch, no attempt will be made to 
eulogize, or portray at length, the life and labors, 
or the traits and tastes of the late George Duflaeld. 
The field is too wide, and the associations yet too 
fresh and tender. Our aim will be rather to out- 
line, merely, his career, as a student, as a citizen, 



EEV. GEOEGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 9 

and as a preacher of that Gospel, which it was his 
pleasure to proclaim for more than fifty years — and 
this sketch will be made of him as he w^as seen from 
the "pew, by a layman, rather than from the puljoit^ 
by one of his ministerial brethren. 

He was born on the 4th day of July, 1794, at 
Strasburg, in the State of Pennsylvania, where his 
father's grandfather had purchased and settled a farm, 
as far back as 1730. 

He was of Huguenot and Scotch - Irish descent, 
and so of pious ancestry — his mother a truly godly 
w^oman, his father a merchant, and elder in the 
Presbyterian church, and his grandfather, of the 
same name, a graduate in the first class w^ho received 
diplomas from Princeton College, a minister of the 
Presbyterian church, and associate chaplain with 
Bishop William White, of the Continental Con- 
gress at Philadelphia. 

The education of the subject of our sketch, was 
the very test then afforded in the Country. At 
the early age of sixteen, after a four years' course, 
he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, 
located at Philadelphia ; and in the same year, 
entered the Theological Seminary of the Associate 
Reformed Presbyterian Church in New York ; then 



10 



COMMEMORATIVE DISCOURSE. 



under the care of the celebrated John M. Mason, 
D.D., whose friendship he long enjoyed, and who, 
it may be remarked, was the only man of whom he 
seemed to stand in real awe. 

It appears from the entries upon his private 
diary, that he did not become a church communi- 
cant until some time after he had entered upon his 
theological studies. 

His license to preach was given him three months 
before he had attained his twenty-first year, and 
before the expiration of that year (1815), he had 
received and accepted a call from the Presbyterian 
church of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, — the same church 
over which his grandfather had been settled, and 
from which, in 1772, he had removed to the Pine 
street church of Philadelphia, in which he lies 
buried. Ere his grandson had left the seminary in 
the city of IN^ew York, his merit as a rising- young 
preacher had been observed, and a devout poet of 
the day, in some published lines, put into verse a 
prophecy concerning him, in these words : 

"Duffield, thine artless eloquence shall win the soul." 

In his twenty-third year (1817) he married Isabella 
Graham Bethune, not yet seventeen years old, daugh- 
ter of Divie Bethune, Esq., of IsTew York city, and 



EEV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 11 

granddangliter of Mrs. Isabella Graham, whose name 
and life is yet cherished in the annals of the Pres- 
byterian church. He remained in Carlisle eighteen 
years and six months, gathering into his church dur- 
ing that time seven hundred persons by profession, 
and two hundred by certificate ; making an average 
of about fifty persons during each year of his first 
pastorate. 

In 1835 he removed to Philadelphia, and in 1837 
to New York city, whence in the fall of 1838, on 
the invitation of the First Presbyterian church, he 
came to Detroit; commencing his labors on the first 
of October in that year, and closing them by his 
death on the 26th of June, 1868, a period of well 
nigh thirty years. 

His installation by the Detroit Presbytery occur- 
red on the 11th of December, 1838 ; and the popu- 
lation of this city at that time was only about seven 
thousand people. 

The church building of the First Protestant Soci- 
ety then stood on the northeast corner of Wood- 
ward avenue and Larned street, having been erected 
in the year 1834, under a contract with Alanson 
Sheley, Esq., at a cost of thirty thousand dollars. 
It was of stately projjortions externally, and spa- 



12 



COMMEMOEATIVE DISCOUESE. 



cious and tasteful in its interior. Galleries sur- 
ronnded its three sides, and the bell wliich swung in 
its steeple served, in its daily ringing and curfew call, 
the entire city. The church's session room was a 
separate one-story brick structure on the same lot, 
but directly north of the church edifice. In it the 
Sunday-school, and regular weekly church meetings 
were held, as also the annual meetings of the Society. 
It was also in those days occupied once a week by 
'^The Detroit Young Men's Society," whose lectures 
and debates were then among the chief, and most 
attractive public winter entertainments of our citi- 
zens. On the night of January 10, 1854, this handsome 
church edifice was destroyed by fire, and thereafter 
the Society was divided into the three Presbyterian 
churches, now known as the ''First," "Fort Street," 
and ''Jefferson Avenue" churches; the First Congre- 
gational church having gone out from the mother 
church and organized as early as December 25, 1844. 

When Mr. Duffield, however, assumed the pastor- 
ate in 1838, the congregation which weekly assembled 
in his church, was generally spoken of as the largest 
and finest in the then IN'orthwest. There was a noble 
- eldership connected with it, composed of such men as 
Eurotas P. Hastings, Benjamin F. Larned, Edward 



EEY. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 13 

Bingham, Robert Stuart, Jonathan Kearsley, David 
French, Horace Hallock, and Charles Gr. Hammond ; 
all of whom, save the last two, have already joined 
the Chnrch above. 

Detroit being then the capital of the State, the 
Legislature met here every winter, and the great 
majority of its members, as also a large part of our 
professional men, worshiped in connection with the 
First church ; so that there was scarcely an empty 
pew below, and very few unfilled in the galleries. 

To such a congregation, the minister could not fail 
to bring his very best thought and efforts ; and it will 
be conceded, I think, that this was fully done by the 
new pastor. In addition to the regular Sunday morn- 
ing and afternoon services, a series of religious lectures 
on some special subject was given in the evening, 
almost every winter, and being of an instructive as 
well as popular character, they were invariably well 
attended, and contributed largely to settle and shape 
sentiment on the controverted themes and topics of 
the time. 

The history of Dr. Duffield's last pastorate is, in 
large part, of yet so recent date, and still so fresh in 
the memory of the older members of our churches, 
that it hardly seems necessary or proper, here to 



14 



COMMEMOEATIYE DISCOUESE. 



recount it in further detail. It was interrupted in its 
course but once, and that only for a year (parts of 
1852 and 1853), when Dr. Duffield, having been 
enfeebled by a severe attack of cholera — contracted 
by visiting and attending the funeral of its many vic- 
tims that season — sought rest and recuperation abroad. 
Among other countries embraced in his journey, he 
visited Egypt and the Holy Land — a trip which had 
long been the dream and desire of his life ; and the 
fruits of which he liberally shared with his people on 
his return. 

Passing then from further historic narrative, we 
proceed to consider rather the individual man, as 
exhibited in his life at large. 

Among his most prominent traits was his prodigious 
love of learning ; not for that pertaining to his pro- 
fession only, but for what was to be gleaned from all 
fields of knowledge. They who remember his face 
will recall this, as impressed upon his very coun- 
tenance ; showing an eager readiness either to receive 
or impart knowledge. 

My earliest recollection of him is, when seated, 
generally in his study, but sometimes in the family 
sitting-room, with a child on one knee, and a heavy 
Latin or Greek folio on the other ; — and the dining- 



REV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 15 

table, at meal hours, always disclosed a formidable 
volume, with open page, at his right hand. 

In those days, say thirty or forty years ago, minis- 
ters did not have the cream of home and foreign 
commentators, condensed into English volumes at one 
dollar and twenty-five cents each, and their knowledge 
was got by liard toorlt. But, as I remember some of 
these volumes, they were Oalvini Opera Omnia^'^^ 
"Venema on the Psalms," '*Michaelis on Moses," 
"Vitringa in Isaiam," ''Lampe in Joannem," and 
scores of others, all in Latin. A colossal Hebrew and 
Greek concordance, — tall and heavj^ as a babe of three 
years, lay ever at his hand with his Hebrew Bible, — 
and all costing, what then seemed to be almost fabu- 
lous prices, some as high as fifty or sixty dollars a 
volume. How it was, with his limited salary, the 
expenses of a large and growing family, and the run- 
ning of a small country place, with every conceivable 
thing in the way of plant, tree and live stock upon it, 
that he could accumulate these rare and expensive 
books, was not only the puzzle of my youth, but still 
remains the unsolved conundrum of my maturer 
years. 

His study was a marvel of miscellaneous accumu- 
lations ; principally of books, pamphlets, manuscripts, 



16 



COMMEMOEATIYE DISCOURSE. 



newspapers and magazines, bound up and loose. But 
round about were hung or grouped, barometers, ther- 
mometers and rain gauges ; garden tools, water-pots, 
pruning-knives, grafting- wax ; melon and flower seeds; 
a stand of plants with cactuses of all varieties; 
Turk's-heads, night-blooming ceres, century, sensitive 
and other noli me tangere sort of plants, standing 
about squirrel and bird-cages, both empty and full; 
and a wide-spread litter of letters, and sermons, with 
a layer of profane coal-dust generally overlaying the 
whole. Conspicuous, however, on the leaf of his 
arm-chair, was his study Bible, and always open. It 
was a small- typed volume, whose e^'^ were ff^s^ and 
ff^s were s\s^ but which, with Canne's references, he 
continued to use to his last day. Upon its pages, 
scrawled on the back of some scrap or fragment of a 
wasted envelope, was almost always to be seen the 
notes or heads of his next sermon logically thought 
out and carefully arranged, — the points of his argu- 
ment," — to be thereafter expanded and written out. 
There were no patent intellectual machines in those 
days, like ''The Lay Preacher," the "Homiletic Mag- 
azine," etc., to furnish the minister with text and 
- heads and subdivisions, illustrations and application, 
as by a turn of the crank ; but, as we have said, men 



REV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 17 

had to do their own hard thinking. His favorite 
method was to discover and work out the rationale of 
his theme, and then enforce it both upon the mind 
and conscience of his hearers. Except Sanrin's, he 
read few sermons ; but gathered round his chair, 
in jostling heaps, were piled his favorite teachers ; 
the vellum-backed Fathers, Augustine, J ustin, and the 
later scholars, Calvin, Luther, Melancthon, Erasmus, 
and others ; long, long since dead, but still to him, 
apparently, a living and delightful presence. It was 
not their gems of thought, or flowers of rhetoric, he 
was seeking to cull ; but their aid in helping him in 
his exegesis — for he was never satisfied until he had 
mastered, first, the literal meaning of his text^ and 
then the text in the real spirit of the context. He, 
therefore, not only studied, but profoundly meditated 
over his theme ; and when his conclusions were 
reached, they were Ms own, and not another's. And 
so, as his sermons continuously disclosed the freshness 
of his thought to his people, they could see, from year 
to year, not only of the travail, but also of the strong 
growth of his soul, in its yearnings, to bring men to 
the knowledge of what he heartily and honestly 
believed to be the Truth. 

It was this independent thinking that led him into 



18 



COMMEMORATIVE DISCOUKSE. 



an early examination of the ecclesiastical fortress in 
which he dwelt, and the character of the artillery he 
had been employing against the adversary. Accept- 
ing, at first, as well-nigh God-given, the theology of 
his day, he preached it withont questioning its sound- 
ness. But, ere long, he discovered that his strong 
appeals to unconverted men were answered by false 
pleas of incibility,^^ alleging, as they did, that they 
could not justly be blamed for an unbelief which 
resulted from a complete want of power to appreciate, 
or accept the Gospel; for tliat (with the atonement) 
was appointed, not for tJiem^ but solely and only 
for ""'the elect and so they sheltered themselves 
from his earnest appeals, by lifting over their heads 
the broad shield of orthodox technicalities. 

This started him into earnest investigation of the 
very foundations of his inherited theology. Old 
methods of explaining the great facts of sin and par- 
don ; old formulas assuming to solve the Spirit's 
inspiration, and its redeeming influence uj)on the 
hearts of men, grew more and more unsatisfactory 
to him, in his earnest endeavor to bring them in har- 
mony with his modern knowledge and reflections; 
and the explanations of them by the philosophy of the 
16th century (hitherto, in his junior years, accepted as 



REV. aEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 19 

almost sacred) seeined altogether unsuited to the 
brighter and more progressive thought of the 19th 
century. At all events, they were not suited to Tiim, 
He must find something better, and he did ! So that 
after a while, he was enabled to rebuild his strong- 
hold, and from the standpoint of a newer and better 
philosophy, to announce doctrinal statements which 
were liable to no such cavilling objections. These he 
both preached and carefully demonstrated, and with 
redoubled energy, urged upon the hearts and con- 
sciences of his hearers. His theology became pro- 
gressive, ceasing to be in the straight line, or in the 
circle that returns hopelessly to its own starting point, 
it took, rather, the spiral form which rose higher and 
higher with each revolution. 

And, not contented to retain for himself the fruits 
of his research and reflections, he at once put them 
into the form of what was, for those days, a very 
formidable book, and entitled it, Duffield on Regen- 
eration,''^ He was then about 36 years of age, and 
this was the manly way in which he launched it 
through the press to the world. I quote here his dedi- 
cation page : 

''To the members of his charge, the following dis- 
quisitions are affectionately dedicated as an 



20 



COMMEMORATIVE DISCOURSE. 



atonement for occasional attempts, in the early 
period of liis ministry among them, to explain 
the great fact of a sinnef s regeneration^ by the 
aid of a pMlosopTiy imbibed in his theological 
education, and interwoven in many of his exhibi- 
tions of Scriptural truth, but for years past 
REPUDIATED by their much attached Pastor ^ 

This, of course, is no place, nor is the speaker the 
proper person to present and discuss these views, new 
and old, which afterward convulsed and divided the 
Presbyterian Church. But they who can look back 
upon those days, can readily recall the effect of such 
an announcement upon the theological world as then 
constituted. It was like tinder touched to the powder 
magazine, and an explosion soon occurred under the 
very feet of the youthful author. 

The venerable fathers of the Carlisle Presbytery at 
once descried this erratic comet on the ecclesiastical 
sky ; and after subjecting it to telescopic view, 
resolved to convene in solemn assembly and definitely 
settle its character; whether a new star or a comet of 
baleful portent. Accordingly a meeting was called, a 
citation issued and served on the young and daring 
divine, who meanwhile was temporarily suspended 
from his clerical functions ; and his trial for heresy 



REV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 21 

opened in his own and grandfather's church. The 
Court numbered some thirty or more members ; and 
arrayed, as they all were, in the solemnity of black 
coats, with most imposing collars — and high white 
cravats, with stiffners in them — they presented a truly 
formidable appearance. Their countenances, as I 
now recall them, wore a sort of Jupiter Tonans aspect, 
and seemed to proclaim to the surrounding laity, that 
they were of that race of men, whom some one has 
characterized, as ''electing themselves to the care of 
other men's beliefs, and appointing themselves God's 
sheriffs to hunt and run down heretics;" and that the 
Westminster confession of faith, with "the larger 
and shorter Catechism," were somehow, in this 
exigency, brought into imminent and unholy peril, 
and they must rally to their defense. 

Once organized, allegations and charges were 
framed, and a committee appointed to prosecute. 
The accused appeared in his own defense, and 
promptly raised and argued various points, in the 
form of pleas, to the jurisdiction and constitutional- 
ity of the proceedings. But these, after having 
become involved and almost lost in a hazy cloud of 
most original discussion and conflicting opinions, 
were suddenly and summarily swept aside in a man- 



22 



COMMEMORATIVE DISCOURSE. 



ner altogether unknown to the rules and precepts of 
either Common or Parliamentary law, and, I am 
inclined to think, of the higher courts of Ecclesiastical 
law also. Evidence was thereupon offered in support 
of the specifications as set forth in the complaint; 
''common fame" being the accuser. 

Two, and, as far as I can remember, only two, dis- 
tinguished members (the Rev. Wm. R. DeWitt, D. D., 
of Harrisburg, and the Rev. John McKnight, of 
Shippensburg) ranged themselves as friends along side 
of the accused, and they proved themselves able and 
faithful champions also. Tri-daily sessions of the 
Court were held, and the main body of the church, 
together with its great galleries, were crowded by an 
interested and anxious audience, through three or 
four days and nights. Divers propositions and 
dogmas were preliminarily considered, and most elab- 
orately discussed ; and thereafter certain sentiments 
and views found in the obnoxious book, were exam- 
ined and pronounced, by various debaters, sadly 
erroneous, and worthy of the severest condemnation. 
Much learning, and the most abstract metaphysical 
reasonings w^ere indulged in by these accomplished 
divines, and there were not a few able men among 
them ; and at last, after many tedious but exciting 
sessions, the end drew near. 



REV. GEOKGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 23 

Well do I remember the closing scene, boy though 
I was, and crowded half way up the pulpit stairs, 
where I sat, w^ondering, in my simplicity, if indeed 
my father was to be adjudged too wielded ever again 
to ascend them, and enter the great, mahogany-stained 
pulpit, with its gorgeous velvet cushion and magnifi- 
cent, Russia-leather bible. It was an evening session, 
and the accused was called upon to speak in his 
defense, and solemnly asked if he '^had any- 
thing to say^^ before the final vote was taken. The 
issue w^as a solemn one — it was simply this : Was the 
author of these ''new views" to be cast out of his 
pulpit as a heretic^ or should he be acquitted ? The 
atmosphere of the Presbytery was hot and hostile ; 
that of the galleries sympathetic and earnest, and 
they were crowded to excess ; among their occupants 
were one or two judges and quite a large number of 
the legal fraternity, also many students from the col- 
lege. The prisoner at the bar — for such he appeared 
to me — stepped j^romptly into the open space on the 
floor below the pulpit, and took his place at a small 
table, on which lay his books and papers. Flushed, 
and warm with the excitement of the occasion, but 
altogether master of the situation, he commenced his 
argument without fear or faltering. Moving on, from 



24 



COMMEMORATIVE DISCOURSE. 



proposition to proposition, and charge to charge, he 
defined, analyzed and argued the great theological 
questions presented, with all the subtle metaphysics 
involved in them, in a manner that at least com- 
manded the admiration, if it did not win the votes, of 
his judges. The closing appeal left a profound 
impression on the large assembly, and was pro- 
nounced by the legal gentlemen present, as worthy of 
being ranked among the very best forensic efforts 
they had ever heard. The committee for the prosecu- 
tion followed with their appeal, and on the following 
morning the votes were called. On two of the charges 
the accused was acquitted, but on eiglit he was found 
guilty, by majorities ranging from two to six. 

Being found guilty of the errors specified, he was, 
logically at least, a convicted heretic, and should 
have been dealt with accordingly. But, either from 
the effect produced by the accused's final argument, 
or from some other cause not apparent on the record, 
the sentence pronounced carried no ecclesiastical 
thunder in it, but took this mild and harmless form, 
viz : 

" Hesolved^ That Presbytery, at present, do not 
censure Mr. Duflleld any further than warn him to 
guard against such speculations as may impugn the 



EEV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 25 

doctrines of our Chiircli ; and that he study to main- 
tain the unity of the spirit in the Bond of Peace." 

Briefly put, this judgment was, by the common 
sense of the people, thus paraphrased: ''True, we 
find you guilty, but you may go ; only don't do so 
again." 

This whole trial, viewed as a judicial proceeding, in 
the light of the advanced thought of the church of 
to-day, cannot but be construed not only as a viola- 
tion of the constitutional principles of Presbyterian 
Church polity, but as an outrage (or, if that expres- 
sion, in the presence of these revered and reverend 
gentlemen, sounds a little harsh, let us say a gross 
trespass) upon that freedom of thought and opinion 
that pre-eminently inheres in its widely cherished 
standards, and form of government. And yet, we 
cannot but think, that these learned and zealous 
divines, in the expression of this, their judgment, 
somehow imagined they were doing good service both 
to the Church, and the cause of truth; they were so 
solemn and earnest in it all, that it is hard to think 
otherwise. 

It may not be out of place, in dismissing this sub- 
ject, here to quote the comments of some writer in the 
Philadelphia press of that time, upon this trial. He 



26 



COMMEMORATIVE DISCOIJRSE. 



says, among other things : '^I feel perfectly confident 
that the cause for which Mr. Dnfiield here contended 
is that of truth, of revivals, of a dying world, and of 
God, and he will in the end triumph. For I expect 
without doubt to see the principles which he advo- 
cated spread, and ferment, and break up the founda- 
tions of many generations, and contribute to the 
increased activity and efficiency of churches that have 
slept for half a century." 

It is hardly necessary to add that this prophecy has 
now for many years been fulfilled, and the doctrines 
of individual responsibility, a full and free atonement 
for every man through the passion and mystery of the 
cross — which, in this trial, w^ere so ably vindicated by 
the reproved but triumx3hant preacher — are now (if 
we mistake not) the accepted views of the entire 
Presbyterian Church throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. 

Enough has already been hinted to show that Mr. 
Duffield was a profound biblical student. Having 
attained the mastery of eight or nine different lan- 
guages, he employed them all in his professional 
researches and studies. And in his manner of pre- 
senting truth, he showed himself not only a natural 
reasoner, but a scientific one. Thoroughly versed in 



KEY. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 27 

all the terms, modes and methods of logic, and familiar 
with all the various philosophies of the schools, he 
handled this rapier like a master. 

He was, as I have already said, a meditative man. 
In the world of thought he foresaw drifts and tenden- 
cies; as in the case of transcendentalism and other 
isms which are latterly spoken of as the hroad views 
of Christianity ; still, he did not despise Philosophy, 
but hearkened to her voice whenever it was heard to 
speak. But he never was willing to sacrifice to Philos- 
ophy what he regarded and accepted as Truth, For 
that, and that always, both in the field of science, as 
w^ell as thought, was his aim and his goal. He loved 
to sit at the feet of the Divine Man, Jesus, and learn 
of Him; instead of having Jesus sit at the feet of 
Philosophy, and of the wise men of the XlXth cen- 
tury. Hence it was, he derived the greater part of 
his strength ; standing always heTiind^ never in front 
of Him whom alone he believed to be " the Way, the 
Truth, and the Life." 

His convictions were always strong. His reason 
had guided his heart to them, as the result of his 
deepest and best inquiry, and he believed in them. 
And back of them lay a will, firm and brave enough 
to proclaim and enforce them in the face of all oppo- 



28 



OOMMEMOEATIYE DISCOURSE. 



sition. Where he conceived a great principle at 
stake, he could no more be moved than the rooted 
rock. Horace, in the snblimest passage he ever wrote, 
completes his picture of the ^'jnstnm et tenacem 
propositi virum" (or man of principle), with the decla- 
ration that ''not even "^the great hand of thundering 
Jove could make him quail." But here we have a man 
who not only attained this Horatian height, but who, 
climbing yet higher, had discovered that there is neither 
Prometheus, nor Ajax, in the Christian calendar ; 
that the Grod in whose hand sleep the thunders is the 
very God of Right and Truth; so that their bolts can 
only be directed by Justice, while they are winged 
with Mercy, and clasped about with Love — that the 
man of CTiristian principle has nothing to fear from 
the Empyrean heights — nay more, through the Divine 
Spirit, he may actually ally himself with this Grod, 
and so stand above the angry world, fearless of all 
that man may do unto him. And what a height it is ? 
Nevertheless we cannot but think, that he of whom 
we speak, sometimes at least, was a dweller on this 
consecrated Tabor of the Christian' s world. 

He was a man of untiring energy. As I look back 

Nec fulminantis magna maniis Jovis." 

— Hor. Lib. Ill, Ode 3. 



REV. GEOROE DUFFIELD, D. D. 29 

on his active ministry in Carlisle, from his thirtieth to 
his fortieth year particularly, I am amazed at the 
amount of his labors. 

His own church membership was large, and scat- 
tered in all directions through that part of the Cum- 
berland Valley. They required frequent visitation ; 
and the saddle was the only method of travel in those 
days ; buggies in that part of the country being as 
yet things not only unseen but unknown. And it was 
no rare exploit for him, on the back of his well-known 
and well-blooded horse, to make, in one day, more 
than fifty miles over those rough and hilly roads. On 
Sundays he invariably preached three times in his own 
church ;— first, the morning service, then after a brief 
interval, another sermon, and a third in the evening — 
besides looking in upon the Sunday-school ; and gen- 
erally in the later hours of the afternoon, riding out 
some five or six miles into the country, and holding 
service in some thickly-settled locality, but invariably 
returning in time for night service at home. He most 
generally had a missionary or other meeting on Mon- 
day evening, a catechetical exercise with the young 
on Wednesday afternoon ; an expository lecture in 
the session-room every Wednesday evening ; church 
prayer meeting on Friday night ; a Bible-class for 



30 



COMMEMORATIVE DISCOURSE. 



ladies on Saturday afternoon, and in times of unusual 
religious excitement, a young convert's meeting, the 
latter mostly held in the parlors of his own house. 
This was at that time the continuous programme of 
his life, and never, that I can remember, relieved by a 
restful vacation or a journey from home. In addition 
to all this, he held, every winter, a series of what were 
called "protracted meetings," in his own church, 
and participated in others appointed in adjacent towns 
and villages. To these ordinary labors, should be 
added, his services in attending funerals through the 
borough ; his toils and perplexities as one of the 
Trustees of Dickinson College ; his volunteered and 
gratuitous instruction to various theological students, 
of whom he generally had two or three on his hands ; 
his attendance on Presbytery and Synod in adjacent 
towns wholly unconnected by railroads ; his special 
studies in the writing of books'^ and articles^ for the 
religious newspapers and reviews ; his efforts on 
behalf of public education and the cause of Temper- 
ance, of which he was a very early and earnest advo- 
cate, and many other extraordinary duties, self- 

^Among others, a volume of Psalms and Hymns published by George 
Fleming, of Carlisle, Penn. ; and in later years several other volumes 
on different subjects. 



EEY. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 



31 



assumed, to be sure, but involving large portions of 
time, and toil, and trouble. It was a busy and a bur- 
densome life, but it had, as we have already seen, its 
abundant rewards. To him it seemed no task, but a 
pleasure thus to labor in the Master's vineyard ; as 
though he heard some wliisj)ering Angel say, 

"Thine to work as well as pray, 
Clearing thorny wrongs away ; 
Plucking up the weeds of sin, 
Letting Heaven's warm sunshine in." 

In his preaching he sought not the tricks of ora- 
tory, for, although his sermons w^ere always written, 
their most eloquent passages came in his appeals after 
his book was closed. And often, when lecturing on 
special themes, such as the atonement, scriptural 
geology, astronomy, millenarianism, or other of the 
many topics he was wont to select for his Sunday 
night winter discourses, he charmed his audience with 
the flashes of a scholarly and truly genuine eloquence. 

At communion seasons, his old parishioners will 
remember, he was peculiarly solemn and affecting ; 
seldom closing his remarks without tears, and leaving 
his people in the very companionship of the Master 
of the feast. 

It is said that the distinguished Dr. John M. Mason 



33 



COMMEMOEATIVE DISCOURSE. 



never appeared so great as on these occasions, and I 
have often wondered whether it was not from him, he 
received somewhat of this sacramental inspiration. 
There are those here present, who will recall some of 
these scenes, when (as was said of another) after hav- 
ing gone through the service, he went up from below ; 
and giving out that hymn with which he always closed 
the exercises, he sat down wearied but satisfied, his 
pale face, with its dark and deeply-set eyes, looking 
out upon us all, ''his whole countenance radiant and 
subdued." And when it was winter, and the church 
darkening, and the lights at the pulpit fell upon his 
face, throwing the rest of the assemblage into deeper 
shadow, the eJffect of his appeals, associated with the 
dignity, and I had almost said unearthly beauty of 
his countenance, was something never to be forgotten, 
by those who loved him. Indeed, I sometimes fancy, 
the vision even yet occasionally appears to -the older 
members of his church, as these memorial feasts recur 
in the same manner, as when lie was wont to take the 
bread and give it to his people, saying: 

''Our Lord, on the same night in which he was 
betrayed, having taken bread, and blessed, and broken 
it, gave it to his disciples, as I, ministering in his name, 
give this bread unto you ; saying, take, eat ; this is 



REV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 33 

my body, wMctL is broken for yon ; this do, in remem- 
brance of me ; for as oft as ye eat this bread and drink 
this cnp, ye do show forth the Lord's death, till He 
comey 

One strong point in his character onght not to be 
overlooked, and that was his firm belief in the broth- 
erhood of men. To him, in the broadest and best 
sense, his fellow-man was also his hr other-man ; not 
only in that sense of equality conferred by onr politi- 
cal institutions, but because he was one endowed with 
an intelligent mind, and, still more, with an immortal 
soul. Consequently, the hard-handed and dusty 
laborer, the sooty-faced lad of the shop, the timid 
clerk of the counter, or the soil- worn sweeper of the 
streets, received from him a greeting quite as cordial 
as the man in his broadcloth and tine linen, or him 
who sat behind the trappings and show of liveried ser- 
vants. He believed that Americans should always 
and everywhere maintain a national simplicity of 
manners, and had no sympathy with that sort of life 
which aped the ways of a land which bowed and 
cringed when quality '^'^ passed by ! But it was his 
aim at all times, as far as possible, by his own sim- 
plicity of life and walk, his open and free inter- 
course with his fellow- citizens of every calling or 



34 



COMMEMOEATIYE DISCOUESE. 



avocation, his iinsparing denunciation of all shams and 
imitations of imperial and courtly ways, to frown 
down everything like incipient aristocracy among 
Americans ; and level up to a fraternal equality the 
worthy citizen, no matter how lowly his lot or 
obscure his birth. To the very core, he accepted and 
adopted that noble sentiment of Scotland's greatest 
poet : 

''The rank is but the guinea's stamp; 
The man's the gold for a' that." 

All this brought him very near to the hearts of the 
''common people" (if this scrijjtural exj)ression may 
be here allowed), and especially into full sympathy 
with young men^ for whom he seemed to have an 
affection amounting almost to a passion. And his 
friends in this class were in all grades and depart- 
ments of life ; not a few were in the army and navy of 
the Country, especially in the days of the iate war, 
many in our colleges and schools, and scores behind 
the counters and in the factories and workshops of 
the city. Like the yew tree, which, it is said, keeps 
fresh and green through centuries of time, because it 
is forever making a new heart, and shedding away 
what is old and worn at the surface, so was it ever 
with him and young men. 



REV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 35 

None were afraid to approach him for aid or coun- 
sel. With him, their secrets were as safe as though 
lodged in their mothers' bosoms, and they knew and 
relied upon it. And the impressions he thus made 
upon his young associates yet survive, and tell upon 
scores of men in the generation that succeeds his own. 

Of Mr. Dn&eld^ 8 patriotism, it seems almost super- 
fluous here to speak, so well was it known, not only 
in our city and State, but throughout the Country. 

Born on Independence Day, five years only after 
the adoption of the Federal Constitution, of a lineage 
prominent on the American side, in the great struggle 
of the Revolution, his grandfather of his own name 
being one of those distinguished rebels for whose head 
the British had offered a large price, he grew up in 
the liberty-loving atmosphere of those days, and could 
not fail to be patriotic. His motto, so gracefully 
given on yonder window, was characteristic of his life, 
for ''to God, his Country and his friends, he was ever 
faithful."^ 

During the critical period of our great Rebellion, 
and especially at its outbreak, his heart was agonized 
lest perchance the Union — to the music of which he 
had been rocked in infancy, and as a native of the Key- 



Deo, Reipublicae et amicis, esto semper fidelis! " 



36 



COMMEMOEATIVE DISCOUKSE. 



stone state, ever supremely devoted — should be rent 
like tlie veil of the temple, and in the end go down in 
blood under the aspiring flag of the slave power. 
His position, however, was instantly taken and well 
defined. 

On the 20th of April, 1861, a scene occurred in front 
of the United States buildings in this city which yet 
lives in the memory of most of our older citizens. 
Treason had spoken in the fire which was opened on 
Fort Sumter upon the 12th, and the patriotic N^orth 
was in a blaze of excitement. The first thing to be 
settled was the loj^alty of Federal officers at Jiome, 
Would they be true to the Union' s flag, or would they 
refuse it a defence in this advancing struggle? A 
public meeting was called for the purpose of affording 
an opportunity for the civil, military and naval 
officers of the United States to renew their oaths in 
support of its Government. A stand had been erected 
on Grriswold street, upon which were many of Detroit's 
prominent citizens, among them the Hon. Lewis Cass, 
Mayor Buhl presiding. In front were drawn up the 
military, naval and civil officers, all in citizens' dress, 
while beyond, the great mass of the people blockaded 
the streets and crowded the steps, roofs and windows 
of adjacent buildings. The meeting being called to 



REV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, B. D. 37 

order, and ''The Star Spangled Banner" having been 
sung with thrilling effect, the Hon. Ross Wilkins, of 
the United States District Court, appeared, intro- 
ducing the Rev. Dr. Diiffield, and, with great feeling, 
asked him to invoke the blessing of the Almighty 
upon the Country. He immediately stepped to the 
front, and the great multitude, as he assumed to voice 
their united prayers to Heaven, was hushed to silence. 
After an expression of adoration to God, as the Great 
Ruler among the Nations, and of thankfulness for the 
gift of His Son, he proceeded in the following earnest 
and lofty strain : 

''We beseech Thee, 0 God, for the sake of Thy 
beloved Son (whom Thou hearest always), to pardon 
all our iniquities ; and suffer us here, in His name, to 
plead with Thee in behalf of our excited, afflicted and 
bleeding Country. O, Thou who art most righteous 
and holy, and who hast seen it just and fitting to let 
the demon of discord and war, unfurl his black and 
blood-stained banner in our beloved land, have mercy 
upon us. Let him not prevail to accomplish the 
destruction of our Government and Union. Arrest 
his march — turn back his troops — destroy his power, 
and save us from bloodshed, anarchy and ruin. 

"Be Thou the fortress of our strength, the rock of 



38 



COMMEMORATIVE DISCOURSE. 



our salvation in our day of calamity and distress. 
Remember the years of old, when our fathers cried to 
Thee, and Thou didst deliver them. Cast us not off, 
though we, their offspring, may have forgotten Thee, 
and ungratefully abused Thy manifold mercies. Are 
we not still Thy people ? And called by Thy name ? 
For Jesus' sake, who died for us, abhor us not ; but 
reach forth Thy hand and deliver us from the perils, 
the horrors and crimes of Civil War ! Gfive to the 
President of these once happily United States, and to 
all that rule over us, wisdom and fidelity, to guide our 
affairs with courage, firmness and discretion, and to be 
successful in counsels, plans and efforts to repel inva- 
sion, suppress rebellion, and restore order, peace and 
harmony. Let Thy fear fall upon us, and upon our 
enemies^ and, as far as we are in the right, stand by 
our armies and direct our fleets. Let no traitor be 
found in church, or State, army or navy, judiciary 
or constabulary, municipal authorities or police. And 
spare, oh, spare us, if it be Thy will, the shedding 
of blood. 

''Have mercy on the seceding States, and our 
warring brethren. Allay their rage and frenzy. Let 
reason and religion recover ascendancy. Give them 
to see that in contending to perpetuate the slavery, 



EEV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 39 

which they have declared shall be ' the corner stone 
of their Confederacy,' they fight not for Thee. For- 
give, we humbly beseech Thee, such blasphemy and 
madness, and bring them to repentance. 

Let not anarchy rear its hydra-head, and lawless- 
ness, violence and murder, revel in our land. Rebuke 
the raging tempest of human passion. Say to the 
dashing, thundering waves, ' Peace ! be still ! ' and 
give us to see our loved and cherished Ship of State, 
with her star-spangled banner floating unrent upon 
the breeze, soon sail prosperously on a tranquil sea. 

''OLord, be gracious unto us. Help us to wait 
for Thee. Be Thou our arm every morning, and our 
salvation in this time of trouble. Give solemnity and 
force to the oath now to be administered to our 
ofiicers. Take them, and all of us, under the shelter 
of Thy wing, that we may praise Thee now and ever- 
more, through Jesus Christ, our only Lord and 
Saviour. Amen!" 

The oath was then taken in all solemnity ; again 
the national airs were sung, the benediction pro- 
nounced, and the assembly slowly dispersed to their 
homes. 'Not a single speech was made. General Cass 
remarking that it was altogether too solemn an occa- 
sion for speech-making. The prayer seemed to be all 
that was becoming, and all that was desired. 



40 



COMMEMOEATIVE DISCOUESE. 



This high-water mark of Mr. Duffleld's patriotism 
never lowered through the entire struggle. His voice 
was ever for the Government, the Union, and JSTational 
liberty. He put the National banner into the hands of 
his two sons, and sent them with his and their mother' s 
blessing, to the field. And when, under some sudden 
and calamitous reverse of the Federal arms, the people 
were summoned by a K'ational proclamation to observe 
a day of ''fasting, humiliation and prayer," he was 
ever ready with brave words of encouragement and 
hope. And as his hearers, with drooping hearts and 
heads, slowly gathered to their pews, and listened to 
his earnest prayers and soul-stirring appeals, their 
hearts grew strong again, and their faith brightened 
with their faces; so that as they left the sanctuary, 
under the organ strains of some National anthem, they 
marched forth as though the shouts of coming victory 
were already in the air. 

It was his great satisfaction that he was permitted 
to live long enough to see the Nation, under God, 
receive its new birth of Freedom," and its flag again 
afloat, over an unbroken and enduring Union. 

But I forbear. His surviving friends well Tiuow that 
his heart was his Country's to its every drop, and 
were they to utter their judgment, they would say — 



REV. GEORaE DUFFIELD, D. D. 



41 



" He did love 
His Country's good, with a respect more tender, 
More holy, and profound than his own Ufe.''^ 

Without tarrying to speak of his devotion to the 
natural sciences, and the extent of his studies therein, 
his special interest and efforts on behalf of schools and 
colleges, and particularly our own University (of 
which he was an early and laborious Regent for nine 
years), and his many contributions to the secular 
press, looking to the development of the material 
interests of the State, and particularly of the Upper 
Peninsula, and the Northern Pacific Railroad, I 
notice, in conclusion, but one more trait of his charac- 
ter — and that not the least worthy, his broad, Chris- 
tian charity. 

If any one, by reason of his occasional controversial 
discourses, supposed or judged him to have been a 
severe and narrow sectarian, they were greatly in error. 
To be sure, he loved Presbyterianism. It was the 

Note. — None who were present will ever forget the Sunday night 
that Detroit was threatened by a rebel invasion from Canadian terri- 
tory, when, at the close of the service in his own church, and just 
before pronouncing the benediction, he gave notice, with flashing eye 
and strong, unfaltering voice, that if the attack should be made, " The 
ringing of yonder bell would be the signal for every loyal citizen to be 
in his place and repel it. " 



42 



OOMMEMOEATIVE DISCOURSE. 



Chnrcli of his sires for generations back, and as he 
understood it, he found in its form of government a 
larger and better protected Christian liberty, than in 
that of any other denomination. Though always a 
robust opponent of sectarian exclusiveness and preten- 
sion, he never dis-esteemed other Christian organiza- 
tions. On the contrary, his hand was ever extended in 
fraternal fellowship, to all who recognized Christ as the 
One Great Head of the Church. His theology might be 
briefly and well described, or defined, as Christology ; 
and wherever that banner waved or its bugle sounded, 
he was ready to enlist. Many times have I seen and 
heard him upon the Methodist camp-meeting plat- 
forms, in the groves of the Cumberland Valley, as they 
were wont to be held in those early days ; and also 
participating with the Baptists in this and other 
cities, while special meetings were being conducted 
by this denomination. It was to the salvation of 
souls, that his heart seemed consecrated, and wherever 
there was work of that sort to be done, he was not 
only ready but anxious to serve. Nor did this 
breadth of Christian charity come to him, as with 
many, only in the later and mellower years of life. It 
flashed out early from his lips and pen ; and in days, 
too, when the robes of sectarianism were drawn close, 



REV. GEORGE DUFEIELB, D. D. 43 

and a Pharisaic sort of superior holiness that had 
come down from former generations, marked a major- 
ity of the denominational ministry. As early as his 
35th year, he both preached and published, among 
other opinions, the following, bearing on this very 
point. 

These are some of his words : 

"It sometimes happens that ministers aim at the 
mere mental illumination of their hearers, or their 
entertainment or gratification. These are all unhal- 
lowed ends when made supreme, and will vitiate the 
service. ISTor is theirs any better who seek in the 
spirit of sectarism to swell their numbers, or in the 
spirit of proselytism, to seduce from other denomina- 
tions. God does not commission or employ ministers 
to labor for their sect. The Bible knows nothing of 
sect, except the one 'every where spoken against,' 
the true followers of Christ. To increase tJieir number, 
should be the aim of the ministry, and they who man- 
ifest more zeal for sect^ than to bring sinners to Him^ 
have forgotten their commission and will receive no 
plaudit from Heaven for their labor. It is truly piti- 
able to witness the expenditure of time, labor, funds 
and feeling, which is made in the spirit of sectarism! 
The Presbyterian, and Episcopalian, and Methodist, 



44 



COMMEMOEATIVE DISCOURSE. 



and Baptist banners, are to be seen floating in almost 
every direction ; and the cry for recruits is heard on 
every breeze ; but alas ! how often, instead of enlist- 
ing good soldiers for Jesus Christ, is it to be seen that 
the sect is first, and Christ next. This is a most bale- 
ful spirit. He brings sinners to Himself, here and 
there, wherever the truth is preached, regardless of 
ecclesiastical organizations. Shall we then exalt the 
mere ecclesiastical organization — which is, unques- 
tionably, a thing of human device in many of its 
formal rites and usages — above the fellowship of 
God's dear saints, and show more devotion to the 
interests of a sect, than to those of the precious 
'flock' of God? If we do we are not co-operating 
with Him, but are exalting our plan and aim above 
His. Let the grand aim be to convert sinners^ to 
bring souls to Jesus, and not to marshal the forces of 
a sect. It is certainly a matter of comparative unim- 
portance, provided the sinner is truly converted, in 
what ecclesiastical connexion he may eventually be 
found. By acting in the spirit of sectarism, we do 
virtually and formally contribute to perpetuate and 
justify the infidel reproach of Christianity, — that it is 
a schismatic and litigious thing. And worse still, we 
frustrate our Redeemer's prayers. He prayed for His 



REV. GEOEGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 45 

people^ not only for the Apostles, but ' for them also 
which should believe on Him through their word ; ' 
'that they may be one^'^ 'perfect in one,' and that 
'the world may know that Thou hast sent me.' 
Never till the spirit of sectarism, and schism, and 
strife is banished from among the friends and minis- 
ters of Christ, can the world have this proof of the 
divinity of His religion, or the ministry its full effi- 
cacy and success. We are not the ministers of a sect. 
Nor do our commissions carry us within the range 
exclusively of a particular church or denomination. 
We are ambassadors for God to a guilty worlds and 
the terms of our commission direct us to ' go into all 
the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.' 

"If we shall be censured for thus saying, and our 
sentiments be misrepresented as proofs of hostility to 
'creeds' and 'confessions of faith,' and of aliena- 
tion towards our own ecclesiastical sect, we shall 
regret, but cannot help it. We cannot keep back, 
what appears to us to be tlie truths and so highly 
important to extensive ministerial success. We shall 
be traduced and slandered if men will propagate such 
inferences from our remarks. They are not legitimate 
and we disavow them." 



46 



COMMEMOEATIYE DISCOIJRSE. 



He had already discerned, in the words of another, 
that ''Protestantism had apparently turned the goal 
of its age of separations, and was already moving on 
toward Catholicity." And "he who does not per- 
ceive the undercurrent of life which is to-day carrjdng 
all sects out toward one broad communion — who 
would strengthen the barriers of sectarianism, or pro- 
vincial theologies against it — must be blind to one of 
the most glorious providences of our generation, and 
dull of hearing to one of the clearest calls to go for- 
ward which has come in any century" to the common 
Christian Church. 

But these same sentiments blossomed forth still 
more beautifully in the last hour of his life. He was 
delivering, in the First Methodist church of this city, 
an "Address of Welcome" to the delegates of the 
World' s Convention of Young Men' s Christian Asso- 
ciations, on the 24th of June, 1868; and -again he 
was heard urging and illustrating these same broad 
views. Among other words he then said, were these : 
" We have but one Sun of Righteousness, and but one 
bright heaven above us." ^ ^ ^ "Whether 
Christians of the Dominion north and east of our bor- 
der, or Christians of the United Kingdom of Great 



REV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D. D. 47 

Britain, Scotland and Ireland, or of any otlier Nation, 
we are all oneiw. Christ — bound together in the higher 
unity of our Lord, of whom the loTiole family, in 
Heaven and on earth, is named. Here, at this border 
point, as when the earth passes through the great 
plains of meteoric showers, we for a little season, 
have come in close contact. Let us for the time being 
merge together in one great Christian galaxy ; forget- 
ting every other distinction save that which pertains 
to the one great Church above, and below;" — 

But — he w^as not permitted to finish the address. 
The winged messenger came and touched him while he 
spake, and the veteran standard-bearer, after fifty 
years of service, fainted and fell. Strong-armed 
friends bore him upon their shoulders to his home. 
Expiring nature struggled for a day or two ; detaining 
him until he could drop his mantle and his message 
upon his first-born, saying, "henceforth you must 
preach for me and then, with his elders and asso- 
ciate pastors standing round his bed (as the Council 
stood round the bed of the dying Calvin), the immor- 
tal spirit took its final flight. 

Devout men carried him to the shades of Elmwood, 
where stands his monument, bearing, among others, 



48 



CO]\IME]\rOEATIYE DISCOUESE. 



this inscription, cut in the old classic languages he 
so loved to study, but which, translated, reads thus : 

''Here lies buried, in the hope of the 
first resurrection, 
GEORGE DUFFIELD, 

Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, 
Penn'a, for twenty years ; 

Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Detroit 
for thirty years. 

A man pure in life, holy in piety, imbued with learn- 
ing ; in discourse, in spirit and in faith 
an example among the faithful." 

"After he had served his generation, by the will of 
God, he fell asleep." 

And now, in closing this discourse, and while his 
presence is yet bright in the memory of many of us, 
may we not, in all truthfulness, say of him, 

" He said not to his Lord, as if afraid, 

' Here is thy talent in a napkin laid ; ' 
But labored in his sphere, as men who live. 
In the delight that work alone can give. 

Peace be to thee ! eternal peace and rest; 
And the fulfillment of that great behest, 
* Ye have been faithful over a few things, 
Over ten cities shall ye reign as kings. ' " 



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